A character really wants to go on a mission, but there is one problem: whichever authority figure they are under (be it superiors or parents) is unlikely to approve of it. When they don't let this stop them, it's an Unauthorized Mission. The character may be either going on the mission without asking anyone or go after being explicitly ordered not to go.

Examples

The title squadron in Rogue One is "formed" when the main cast take off from the rebel base to strike at an empire base without any authorization. Because they are successful, however, "Rogue Squadron" becomes an official unit of the Rebel Alliance after the battle.

Kung Fu Panda: After Po is chosen to be the Dragon Warrior, a jealous Tigress sneaks out of the Jade Palace to fight Tai Lung, with the rest of the Furious Five following to make sure she doesn't get hurt.

Zootopia: Judy, a rookie cop assigned to be meter maid, chases after a weasel thief to fulfill her desire for an exciting mission. While she apprehends the crook, she lands in hot water for abandoning her post and not following police protocol.

Licence to Kill: James Bond goes on a private vendetta against Sanchez when he tortured Felix and murdered Felix's newlywed wife. He even willingly quit MI6 when they try to force him out to let the Americans deal with him despite having a few crooked agents working there. Fortunately for Bond, Q remains to be an ally.

Wonder Woman (2017): Steve Trevor and Diana's mission stop General Ludendorff and Dr. Isabel "Poison" Maru from making Deadly Gas is being funded by Patrick Morgan behind his superiors' back, and later even he withdraws his support.

The Goonies go on their treasure hunt without authorization. Brand is assigned to babysit them while Mrs. Walsh and Rosalita go to run some errands, but they're able to escape when they tie him up. Mrs. Walsh sends Brand after them to bring them home and he somehow gets roped into the adventure.

Jason Todd died going on an unauthorised mission that turned out to be a trap.

Spoiler, in her first probationary run as Robin, went on an unauthorized mission. She ended up saving Batman's life. He fired her because she had sworn to obey him, and had broken her word.

Adventures In The Rifle Brigade: The comic starts with the titular Rifle Brigade parachuting over Berlin (while it's being bombed). When they're captured, commander Darcy and lieutenant Milk ask each other the point of the mission (each assuming the other hadn't told them for security reasons). It turns out that when Milk called Darcy to tell him "It's on", with Darcy immediately arranging for transport, Milk was referring to a friend's birthday party. Fortunately, a Gestapo officer enters and smugly reveals he knew the Allies couldn't resist investigating the top-secret V2 fuel factory located right next to the building where the Brigade is held captive...

Harry Potter: The gang that heads to the Ministry of Magic in the end of the Order of the Phoenix is not granted permission in any way. Actually, this happens in Book 1, Book 2, and Book 5. Rowling must enjoy this.

El Goonish Shive. During the "Painted Black" arc, Elliott is kidnapped on the orders of the Big Bad Damien. Tedd Verres's father is in charge of a secret government agency dealing with the supernatural and unusual. Normally Elliott's friends would go to him, but he is out of town and can't be reached by phone. The protagonists decide to set out to rescue Elliott themselves. They succeed, but Mr. Verres is angry about the risk they took.

When Lexi Bunny of the Loonatics Unleashed learns that Tech's "space shooter game" was actually a planetary defense system, and that she'd damaged Melvin Martian's world-ship, she becomes The Atoner, going alone to accept full responsibility for her actions. Lexi left a holographic log to apologize to her teammates, bidding them farewell, and explaining her reasoning.

The title squadron in Rogue One is "formed" when the main cast take off from the rebel base to strike at an empire base without any authorization. Because they are successful, however, "Rogue Squadron" becomes an official unit of the Rebel Alliance after the battle.

Kung Fu Panda: After Po is chosen to be the Dragon Warrior, a jealous Tigress sneaks out of the Jade Palace to fight Tai Lung, with the rest of the Furious Five following to make sure she doesn't get hurt.

Zootopia: Judy, a rookie cop assigned to be meter maid, chases after a weasel thief to fulfill her desire for an exciting mission. While she apprehends the crook, she lands in hot water for abandoning her post and not following police protocol.

License To Kill: James Bond goes on a private vendetta against Sanchez when he tortured Felix and murdered Felix's newlywed wife. He even willingly quit MI6 when they try to force him out to let the Americans deal with him despite having a few crooked agents working there. Fortunately for Bond, Q remains to be an ally.

I think this could use a better description. How about something along those lines: A character really wants to go on a mission, but there is one problem: whichever authority figure they are under (be it superiors or parents) is unlikely to approve of it. When they don't let this stop them, it's an Unauthorized Mission. The character may be either going on the mission without asking anyone or go after being explictly ordered not to go. In any case, the authority figure will probably not be happy when they find out and most likely to punish the character when they come back. Or, if the mission ends up being helpful in some way after all, they may reward the character. This makes the Unauthorized Mission a frequent set-up for Chew Out Fake Out and/or Promotion Not Punishment. Reasons for going on the mission can include Screw The Rules Im Doing Whats Right and ID Id What I Had To Do.

Wonder Woman 2017: Steve Trevor and Diana's mission stop General Ludendorff and Dr. Isabel "Poison" Maru from making Deadly Gas is being funded by Patrick Morgan behind his superiors' back, and later even he withdraws his support.

When Lexi Bunny of the Loonatics Unleashed learns that Tech's "space shooter game" was actually a planetary defense system, and that she'd damaged Melvin Martian's world-ship, she becomes The Atoner, going alone to accept full responsibility for her actions. Lexi left a holographic log to apologize to her teammates, bidding them farewell, and explaining her reasoning.

Comic Books/{Batman}: Spoiler, in her first probationary run as Robin, went on an unauthorized mission. She ended up saving Batman's life. He fired her because she had sworn to obey him, and had broken her word.

Harry Potter: The gang that heads to the Ministry of Magic in the end of the Order of the Phoenix is not granted permission in any way. Actually, this happens in Book 1, Book 2, and Book 5. Rowling must enjoy this.

El Goonish Shive. During the "Painted Black" arc, Elliott is kidnapped on the orders of the Big Bad Damien. Tedd Verres's father is in charge of a secret government agency dealing with the supernatural and unusual. Normally Elliott's friends would go to him, but he is out of town and can't be reached by phone. The protagonists decide to set out to rescue Elliott themselves. They succeed, but Mr. Verres is angry about the risk they took.

Adventures In The Rifle Brigade: The comic starts with the titular Rifle Brigade parachuting over Berlin (while it's being bombed). When they're captured, commander Darcy and lieutenant Milk ask each other the point of the mission (each assuming the other hadn't told them for security reasons). It turns out that when Milk called Darcy to tell him "It's on", with Darcy immediately arranging for transport, Milk was referring to a friend's birthday party. Fortunately, a Gestapo officer enters and smugly reveals he knew the Allies couldn't resist investigating the top-secret V2 fuel factory located right next to the building where the Brigade is held captive...

The Goonies go on their treasure hunt without authorization. Brand is assigned to babysit them while Mrs. Walsh and Rosalita go to run some errands, but they're able to escape when they tie him up. Mrs. Walsh sends Brand after them to bring them home and he somehow gets roped into the adventure.

Cat Shit One: The heroes go on a fully unauthorized rescue mission (due to their No One Gets Left Behind mentality) that is absolutely not sanctioned by their superiors as the rescuees are in territory where the US officially should not be. The mission is successful, the colonel telling them they deserve medals... before telling them that there won't be any as they still need to be reprimanded for stealing American helicopters and using them for unknown purposes.

In the Animorphs novel Visser, it's revealed that Edriss-562 (the titular Visser One) defied her then-current orders and stole a ship in order to go to Earth with an underling, since humans had been designated as a Class Five species (ideal in every way for Yeerk infestation without any means of resisting). However, since she had managed to verify that this was true, she received no punishment and was instead promoted to Visser One.

The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion: The last few quests you do in the Fighter's Guild questline are not approved by the guild because they involve working with Modryn Oreyn, who used to be the Guildmaster's second-in-command by was kicked out in disgrace for sending the Guildmaster's son on a mission which got him killed. When the Guildmaster learns of this, she briefly considers having you expelled, but then gives you an Arson Murder And Lifesaving speech about how your reckless actions have saved the guild and steps down from her post to offer it to you.

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